The Key to Spiritual Attentiveness: A Biblical Guide to Fasting

If your spiritual life feels stagnant and your relationship with the Lord is stale, God has good news for you! He has given us the KEY to increasing our spiritual attentiveness to God’s presence and His Word through fasting. In today's busy world, it's easy for distractions and stress to cloud our minds and hearts, but Scripture urges us to be still and recognize God (Psalm 46:10).

Fasting—voluntarily abstaining from food or other physical appetites—redirects our focus from physical needs to spiritual growth. When you eat, a greater amount of your blood is used for functions of your digestive system. When you exercise, a greater amount of your blood is used for your muscular system. However, when you fast and focus on prayer and God’s Word, a greater amount of your blood is available for your mental system to become more sensitive to the Lord’s presence, more alert to spiritual dangers, and more able to be led by God’s Spirit.

The Bible frequently links uncontrolled appetite with pitfalls. Adam and Eve were tempted by their physical appetite. Esau allowed his stomach to cause him to lose his birthright. The Israelites, after being delivered from bondage in Egypt, allowed their uncontrolled fleshly appetite to cause them to sin. Jesus’ first temptation from the devil, while fasting for 40 days, was directed at his bodily hunger. If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread (Matthew 4:3).

Jesus taught that fasting should be done in secret, promising reward for those who do it faithfully. Fasting was an assumed practice. When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:16-18, NIV). 

We should fast when we need God’s direction or guidance for decisions (Ezra 8:21-23; Acts 13:2-3), when we face impossible situations (Esther 4:16), when we need healing in our land (Jeremiah 36:9), when we need protection and deliverance (2 Chronicles 20), when we need God’s mercy (Jonah 3:4-10), and when we are selecting leaders (Acts 14:23).

Fasting helps express, deepen, and confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice for the kingdom of God. If you are not familiar with fasting, start slow. Try fasting for one meal and use that time in prayer to God and reading His Word. Fasting is a powerful, God-blessed strategy for the Church and for individual believers today! Through sincere and private fasting, as taught by Jesus, believers can deepen their prayer lives, commit more fully to God’s kingdom, and experience renewed spiritual attentiveness.